Showing results by narrator "Edward Holland" in All Categories

In this comprehensive history, Stanley Karnow demystifies the tragic ordeal of America's war in Vietnam. The book's central theme is that America's leaders, prompted as much by domestic politics as by global ambitions, carried the United States into Southeast Asia with little regard for the realities of the region. Karnow elucidates the decision-making process in Washington and Asia and recounts the political and military events that occurred after the Americans arrived in Vietnam.

Originally published in 1940, this book is a rare phenomenon, a living classic that introduces and elucidates the various levels of reading and how to achieve them - from elementary reading, through systematic skimming and inspectional reading, to speed reading. Audiences will learn when and how to “judge a book by its cover,” and also how to X-ray it, read critically, and extract the author’s message from the text.

In the beginning months of World War I, a very strange thing happened. After the fierce trench warfare of November and December, on Christmas Eve, 1914, the fighting spontaneously stopped. Men on both sides laid down their arms and came to celebrate Christmas with each other. They shared food parcels across the lines, sang carols together, and erected Christmas trees with candles. They buried the dead, exchanged presents, and even played soccer together.

In The Soldiers' Story, veteran journalist Ron Steinman gathers the candid reminiscences of 76 men who survived combat in Vietnam. Not a military analysis or political study, this oral history vividly conveys the hardships, friendships, fears, and personal triumphs of marine, army, air force, and navy veterans - each of whom shares memories that have lingered to this day.

When Father Wheatley decided to convert from the Anglican Church to the Roman Catholic, he thought he had fully considered the sacrifices he would have to make. He understood the strain the change would put on his wife and children, and the challenges he would face to be accepted as a married Roman Catholic priest. He even acknowledged that reactionaries in both religious camps would oppose such a spiritual changeover.

The late William X. Kienzle is best known for his Father Koesler mysteries, starring priest/detective Father Robert Koesler. Here, we go back to Father Koesler's past, to a time when young Catholic men and women were encouraged, even expected to become priests and nuns. Kienzle follows a group of young men and women through the paths of their religious life, as they test their commitment, their faith, and their vocation against the high standards of the Catholic Church.

Meet Jemma West. Her fledgling catering business is toast thanks to one bad review. With her reputation in tatters and all her clients gone, she's stuck cooking brunch for hipsters. When she's offered the opportunity to plan a social media darling's wedding, it sounds like the answer to all her prayers. There is just one small snag, the new gig also comes with an assistant, the bride-to-be's brother. Who just so happens to be the sexy as hell nameless guy she hasn't been able to stop thinking about since he left her bed.

Have you ever wondered how George W. Bush got to be President? Writer, political strategist, and Bush campaign worker Stuart Stevens takes us on a behind-the-scenes tour of the Bush presidential campaign. He shows us the hidden moments in the small towns of Texas which added up to success for the former Major League Baseball owner.

Following his development from moody Oklahoma teenager to the method-trained star to the eccentric recluse of his later years, Patricia Bosworth offers a penetrating look at Marlon Brando's evolving persona: the volcanic Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire, the sensitive rebel in The Wild Ones, the iconic Don Corleone in The Godfather. Bosworth probes Brando's alcoholic parents' influence on his acting, his decades of psychoanalysis, and his tumultuous personal relationships.

Sixty-year-old Father Rick Casserly, the much loved pastor at St. William of Thierry church, and Lillian "Lil" Niedermier, the principal at nearby St. Enda's elementary school, share a common bond. They are secret lovers, driven into the closet by the Catholic Church's position on the marriage of its clergy.